46 Fla. L. Weekly D2460a IMC HOSPITALITY, LLC, etc., Petitioner, v. ROGER LEDFORD, SR., Respondent. 3rd District. Case No. 3D21-1593. L.T. Case No. 19-32735. November 17, 2021. A Writ of Certiorari to the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Valerie R. Manno Schurr, Judge. Counsel: Conroy Simberg, and Hinda Klein and Samuel B. Spinner (Hollywood), for […]
Articles
Torts — Automobile accident — Rear-end collision — Trial court erred by interpreting judicially created rear-end presumption of negligence to defeat defendant’s claim of comparative fault — Because there was admissible evidence that defendant was not sole cause of accident, presumption should have vanished and lost its legal effect — Trial court also erred in finding that comparative fault defense was unavailable because defendant could not specifically identify nonparty to whom she sought to allocate fault — Statute provides that defendant need only describe nonparty as specifically as possible when the nonparty’s identity is not known — New trial required on both liability and damages where challenged decision was made at beginning of proceeding and affected its entirety
46 Fla. L. Weekly D2548a CHRISTINE ANN CRIME, Appellant, v. JOHN LOONEY, Appellee. 1st District. Case No. 1D20-1183. November 24, 2021. On appeal from the Circuit Court in Duval County. Bruce Anderson, Judge. Counsel: Matthew J. Conigliaro of Carlton Fields, P.A., Tampa; William C. Gula and Skyler B. Trettis of Vernis & Bowling of St. […]
Insurance — Water damage — Insurer’s election to repair — Appraisal — Voided endorsements — Material breach — Error to deny insurer’s motion to compel appraisal based on finding that insurer’s failure to provide water mitigation services after electing to do so was a material breach of the policy which caused prejudice to the insureds and discharged them of any further contractual duties under preferred contract endorsement, including appraisal — Insurer’s election to repair created a new repair contract under which insurer was bound to perform repairs within a reasonable time — Insurer’s failure to provide water mitigation services was not a breach that voided or discharged insureds from appraisal provision in the policy — Rather, mitigation was subsumed within the duty to repair, and insurer’s failure to mitigate was relevant only to the cost to repair the property — Because scope of loss is in dispute and insurer demanded appraisal pursuant to appraisal provision in endorsement, insurer is entitled to appraisal
46 Fla. L. Weekly D2534a PEOPLE’S TRUST INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. PARVIN NOWROOZPOUR and PARVIZ NOWROOZPOUR, Appellees. 4th District. Case No. 4D21-720. November 24, 2021. Appeal of nonfinal order from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Keathan B. Frink, Judge; L.T. Case No. CACE-18-005826 (12). Counsel: Mary Lou Cuellar-Stilo and Mark […]
Torts — Automobile accident — Punitive damages — Trial court abused discretion in striking supplemental expert disclosure as untimely without analyzing whether late-disclosed expert testimony would prejudice the objecting party — Punitive damages award reversed and new trial required where trial court failed to make any findings on prejudice or analyze the Binger factors
46 Fla. L. Weekly D2325a SCOTT LENORD CALLARI, Appellant, v. ELIZABETH WINKELJOHN, Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D20-0870. L.T. Case No. 18-20841. October 27, 2021. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Mavel Ruiz, Judge. Counsel: de Beaubien, Simmons, Knight, Mantzaris & Neal, LLP, and Kenneth P. Hazouri (Orlando), for appellant. Wallen | […]
Insurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Reasonable, related, and necessary treatment — Trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of medical provider with regard to issue of reasonableness of charges — Affidavit and deposition of provider’s owner were conclusory and self-serving, and insufficient to support summary judgment, where owner did not have actual knowledge of reasonable prices — Trial court incorrectly struck affidavit of insurer’s expert coding witness — Conclusion that witness failed to consider amount providers were charging in the community and “did not do the right computation, based upon the right information” was contradicted by expert’s affidavit — Trial court erred in entering summary judgment on medical necessity and relatedness where genuine issues of material fact existed — Trial court erred in weighing credibility of experts and discounting insurer’s expert when ruling on summary judgment motion
46 Fla. L. Weekly D2338a STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. HOLLYWOOD DIAGNOSTIC CENTER, INC. a/a/o JUANITA B. DANCY, Appellee. 4th District. Case No. 4D21-202. October 27, 2021. Appeal from the County Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; John D. Fry, Judge; L.T. Case Nos. 062010SC013978AXXXCE and 062018AP011524AXCCCE. Counsel: DeeAnn J. […]